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Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Coronavirus

Does Corona Compassion Kill?

The corona virus hit Western society like a Biblical plague — almost. Biblical plagues were actually much more devastating. Still, as Peter Leithart describes the present situation, it is a judgment from God, because the disease itself together with our political solutions brought about a social situation that fits Deuteronomy’s…

by Ralph Allan SmithMay 26, 2020
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Theology

Is Theology Useless?

“The achievements of theologians don’t do anything, don’t affect anything, don’t mean anything. What makes anyone think that ‘theology’ is a subject at all?” - Richard Dawkins One cannot be a Christian college president or seminary trustee (your essayist is both) without wondering if Richard Dawkins’s notorious take-down of theology…

by Alexander WhitakerMay 19, 2020
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How to Worship

How Should Churches Respond to One Another?

Nearly every church that I am aware of has adopted differing practices since the recent virus scare began. Some churches continued to meet during the state lock downs, and other churches left their building empty, meeting online through various video conference technologies. Some churches have gone back to life as…

by Jonah BarnesMay 12, 2020
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Fear

Fear

Fear is an inseparable companion of human life. We are afraid of illness and death, poverty and cataclysms, rejection and betrayal, failure and shame. We are afraid of the unknown, so in a sense we are afraid of the future and life itself. Unless we live in the illusory belief…

by Bogumil JarmulakMay 5, 2020
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Heresy

The Blessing of “Heresies”

In the title above, I put the word “heresies” in quotation marks because I would prefer that the word “heresy” be confined to erroneous beliefs about the Trinity and the Person of Christ, rather than be used broadly to describe any view that might be considered an error. 1 At…

by Ralph Allan SmithApril 30, 2020
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Fear

On Coping (or not) with a Crisis

I’ve been trying to work out why I’m feeling existentially disconnected from CoV-19-related fears. I’m taking it seriously, but it’s not registering in any deeply personal way. Partly it’s that my routines are largely undisrupted. But as I reflect on people’s reactions I think there’s more, because a lot of…

by Matthew MasonApril 28, 2020

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Eucharistic Meditation, April 24

?In the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it.?E Growth and learning is awkward and difficult, especially when we are learning about something as complex as another human being, another human being who is radically different from ourselves. As I mentioned in the…

April 24, 2005
Theology

Exhortation, April 24

This exhortation was inspired by recent lectures by James Jordan. In this morning?s sermon, Pastor Wilson will be talking about learning and growth in marriage, and as he will point out that this growth, even apart from sin, can be awkward and difficult. Between one stage of knowledge and illumination…

April 24, 2005

More on Romans 8

INTRODUCTION In chapter 8, Paul brings to a climax his discussion of the law, its cooption by sin, and the resulting death. He has shown the law to be weak and helpless in dealing with the condition of sin and death, and now announces that God has done what the…

April 24, 2005

Baptism and Justification

Does baptism justify? Justification is, of course, an act of God . But that puts the question differently without deflecting it: Does baptism declare a justification for the person baptized? Assuming the Augustinian (and Reformed) view that baptism is an act of God not of man, we may ask, is…

April 20, 2005

Romans 8:1

Chuck Lowe has a thoughtful analysis of Romans 8:1-4 in an essay in the June 1999 issue of JETS . He argues that the text means just what it says, that there is “no condemnation” because those who are in Christ have been liberated from sin and death through the…

April 20, 2005

Law/Gospel and Gnosticism

David Yeago offers a powerful critique of certain construals of the law/gospel distinction in a 1993 article from Pro Ecclesia . He does not doubt that law and gospel must be distinguished, but contends that when the law/gospel distinction becomes the “ultimate structuring horizon of Christian belief.” When the distinction…

April 20, 2005

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